Richard Pennycuick was interested in my impressions of the Dacapo recording
of Ludolf Nielsen's 1st symphony which is coupled with a symphonic poem.

I listened to it last night, so my impressions are initial ones.  I thought
well of the 1st two movements; they possessed ample melodic invention and
a good amount of tension and mystery.  There were some sections that tended
toward repetition and simply did not work, but the good outweighed the bad.
Unfortunately, the 3rd and 4th movements displayed Nielsen's penchant for
note spinning.  The recorded sound is good, except that there is a
shrillness in orchestral climaxes.

Overall, this symphony is similar in quality to Nielsen's 2nd which I have
on a CPO disc.

I tend to lump Nielsen in with Petersen-Berger and Borresen these days.
Their music is late romantic in nature, sometimes inspired/sometimes not,
and definitely worth a listen.  I have not yet concluded if any of them
wrote music of lasting value.  I don't think they are at Zemlinsky's level.

So, the new Nielsen disc and the other orchestral discs of the three
composers are recommended primarily to those collectors who already have
their Mahler, Strauss, Carl Nielsen Zemlinsky, etc.  and want to branch
out.

Don Satz
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